


Carstairs Family Holiday

by foreverinfiction



Category: Ghosts of the Shadow Market Series - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Kelly Link, The Dark Artifices Series - Cassandra Clare, The Infernal Devices Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-09-29 23:34:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17212937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foreverinfiction/pseuds/foreverinfiction
Summary: Spoilers for QOAADI felt like Jem, Tessa and Kit needed some holiday fluff, so here it is.





	1. Chapter 1

Tessa woke Jem up with a gentle kiss. He stirred, eyes fluttering and limbs stretching as a smile spread across his face. “Good morning,” he said as he opened his eyes. 

“Merry Christmas,” she answered. He reached for her then and she kissed him once more. Kissing her was awkward now. Where he previously would have rolled her over onto her back and pressed in tight against her body, now her belly got in the way. He gently pressed his hand against her belly, palm flat and fingers spread. He could feel the baby kicking now, small flutters beneath his hand. Tessa smiled at him. “Any day now,” she whispered. 

Jem nodded. “I don’t know if I’m ready,” he whispered back. He wasn’t sure why. Nerves, maybe. As much as he wanted this baby, he had no real experience with babies and children, not as himself and not in a role of responsibility rather than being the fun uncle whose parents could undo anything he taught poorly. But he had talked through his nerves with Tessa, and as much as they both worried over raising a child, the excitement and love had overpowered the nerves. Change, Jem thought next. Change had always been difficult for him. He liked routine, he liked having a plan and a backup plan and a backup plan to the backup plan. Although Will had dragged him on adventures when they were young, the adventures had been somewhat routine. They patrolled together regularly, and Jem had come to expect the unexpected turn Will would take that would lead them into danger. Jem had been able to categorize them. Will would get in a fight, which was the most likely. Will would go down a dark alley and they would end up in a situation where strangers wanted them dead was probably the second. All of them were adventures that Charlotte would disapprove of, and all of them were adventures that brought him closer to Will. Change was difficult for him, and Jem had adjusted to the routine of Tessa being pregnant, but having an actual baby, alive and breathing on its own and needing of so much attention was overwhelming. 

“I am ready,” Tessa interrupted his thoughts. She had patiently waited for him to work through his thoughts, as she always did because she was Tessa and she knew him better than he knew himself. “I am ready to be able to tie my own shoes again.” Jem laughed, and she raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re laughing, but it’s true. I can’t reach my feet. I would like to be able to reach my feet again. I am ready to not have this baby kicking my organs around. I am ready to hold him and nurse him and soothe him when he cries.”

Jem smiled at her. “I love you,” he whispered and leaned in to kiss her again. He had to twist uncomfortably to do it, but feeling her smile beneath his lips was worth it. He pulled away and took a deep breath. This was his new adventure with Tessa. It wasn’t like the ones he’d had with Will, but it was all so similar. He recognized feeling out of his depth and the nervous flutter in his heart, the anxiety from being in a new situation, but also the comfort from having the person he loved most here with him. “I love you,” he said again. “I am nervous and worried and all kinds of stressed, but I love you and I am better having you here with me.”

Tessa pushed his hair back from his forehead. “I love you, too,” she said, simple and honest. She let the moment last for a minute and he could see her thinking through what else she wanted to say. 

“What are you thinking?” he asked. 

Tessa laughed. “Nothing romantic. I’m hungry. We should get up and make breakfast for Kit. Also, you should brush your hair. I love you, but your hair is a mess.”

Jem smiled. Simple and honest. It was what he loved about her. He kissed her one last time, laughing as he pulled away. “I will brush my hair if you start breakfast.”

“You’re going to make your very pregnant wife cook breakfast?” she teased. 

Jem laughed. “Yes, because you are a far better cook than I am. If I cook breakfast, it will be burnt and taste funny. I’ll make it up to you.”

Tessa grinned. “I’ll manage,” she said as she stood and pulled away.

* * *

 

Tessa was in the middle of making bacon when Jem emerged. He wore a soft pair of pajama pants with music notes printed on them and a dark royal blue t-shirt. Tessa grinned at him. 

“Your hair looks better,” she teased. 

He laughed. “What can I help with?”

“Making coffee,” she answered. “You’re better at that than I am. Oh, and crack these eggs into that bowl.”

“You’re trusting me with actual cooking?” he asked. 

Tessa shook her head. “Oh, no. I would never do that. This isn’t really cooking. Just preparing things so that I can cook them. Make sure you don’t get shells in.”

By the time Jem had finished cracking the eggs into a bowl and whisking them together, Kit had emerged looking rumpled. 

“That smells good,” he said, sitting opposite from them at the island. 

Tessa smiled at him. “Merry Christmas,” she said. “What do you want in your omelet?”

“Cheese and ham, please.” Kit answered. 

“And coffee?” Jem asked.

Kit grinned. “Not in my omelet, but yes, coffee would be great.”

Jem laughed and ruffled Kit’s hair on the way to the coffee maker. “Are you sure?” he teased. “Coffee omelet sounds like something you would get at one of those new restaurants you like.”

Kit laughed. “I think I’ll pass this time around,” he said, and then after a pause. “Can I give you presents?” Tessa and Jem exchanged a look, but Kit cut them off before the look became a lecture. “Don’t do that thing. It’s Christmas. You two are basically my adoptive parents. I got you presents. It’s not a big deal.”

“Adoptive parents?” Jem said. “Are we— are you okay with that?”

Tessa elbowed him but Kit just nodded. “Yeah. You two took me in, you’re cooking me breakfast, you buy my clothes. Like I said, not a big deal.” 

It was a big deal, for Kit to feel comfortable saying that, for Jem to feel like a father, for Tessa to have this boy to care for, but no one said anything else. Tessa just smiled at him. “After breakfast. We can do presents after breakfast. Kit, will you get plates down? James, you get silverware. These are almost done.”

* * *

 

Breakfast was really good, Kit thought. He tried not to look too eager to give them the presents he had gotten them, but he was excited. He wouldn’t ever call them mom and dad, and they wouldn’t ever replace his parents, but he did think of them as his family. He scarfed down his omelet, two cups of coffee, and three pieces of bacon, thinking it would make breakfast go faster, but instead it made him more anxious as he now had to sit and wait for them to finish. 

As soon as they were done, Kit walked over to the tree they had put up in the corner. It had been Kit’s first time decorating a tree for Christmas, and it was a little haphazard, but he loved it. Jem and Tessa came over with him to sit in the living room. He handed each of them the presents. Tessa smiled at him. “You first,” he told her. 

She opened the paper with the corner first and then looked up at him. “Kit!” she said. “You didn’t—” 

“You said your e-reader died a couple weeks ago. You needed a new one because you read more than anyone else on the planet.” Kit’s tone was dismissive. “It’s not a big deal,” he repeated, but it was. Tessa knew that, he knew that, but he didn’t have to say that. 

“Thank you,” she said and finished unwrapping. 

Jem smiled at her and kissed her cheek before unwrapping his. It was a plain wooden box and Jem gave Kit a puzzled look before opening it. Inside was a set of silver throwing knives. “Jace helped me get them,” Kit said. “Tessa told me you were really good with them. I thought maybe you could teach me and we could train together.” 

Tessa smiled at him, and then looked at Jem. Kit knew that the throwing knives were more than just knives. Jem was a Shadowhunter. He had taken a break to be a Silent Brother, and Tessa had said he was lost, wishing to be a Shadowhunter but not without his parabatai.  _ Say you’ll train with me _ , Tessa had told him Jem had said when he had first met Will. Kit wasn’t replacing Will, but he wanted Jem to train him. Jem understood him. None of them were quite Shadowhunters, and they had their small little family of not-quite Shadowhunters, but they all were part Shadowhunter, and Kit didn’t want to ignore that piece of him.

“I would love that,” Jem said. He smiled at him. It was sad but hopeful, and Kit smiled back at him. He wasn’t sure that Jem knew that Kit knew the deeper meaning to the throwing knives, but Tessa did, and she gave him a look that let him know that she appreciated it. 

“Now, it’s your turn,” Tessa said. She poked Jem and he stood. “It’s the big one,” Tessa said, “and the smaller ones with it.”

Jem put it on the table in front of Kit. It was so large Kit could hardly see them over it. “This is ridiculously large,” he said. 

“Open it,” Tessa prompted. Kit did as he was told and sat in shock for a moment. It was both an Xbox and a PlayStation, and Kit looked up at them in disbelief. “You talked about wanting to play video games,” Tessa explained. “Jem thought you would like the PlayStation games better. I thought you would like the Xbox better. We couldn’t come to an agreement, so we got both. Those little ones are all of the games we thought you might like.”

Kit got up and hugged Tessa. “Thank you,” he said. He wasn’t quite a Shadowhunter, wasn’t quite a faerie, but he had grown up as a mundane. This was a piece of that that he got to hold on to. 

Tessa hugged him back. “You will have to play them with Jem. I tried with Simon and I am terrible at all of them, but I liked the stories.”

Kit sat back down as Jem helped him set up the consoles. Tessa smiled at them and teased them as they accidentally set it up under the wrong name and wifi, but Kit didn’t mind. They understood him better than anyone else, and he loved them for it. Tessa understood growing up as a mundane and being part something that wasn’t Shadowhunter, and Jem understood his hesitancy to fully be a Shadowhunter. They were his family.    



	2. Jem and Kit's Conspiracy

“This is dumb,” Kit said. He was sitting in the London Institute and had been filtering through papers for hours. He wasn’t even really reading them. He was just in charge of pulling out ones that might help with organizing the new Clave and then he handed them on to Jem and Tessa who actually read through them. 

Tessa looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“We have been at this for  _ hours _ ! Do you realize that? Hours looking for one piece of paper with one paragraph that we need. My hands are dry and covered in papercuts.”

Jem laughed at him. “Do you need some lotion?”

Tessa nudged Jem but smiled. “Do you have a better idea?”

Kit paused and thought about it. “Can I have your credit card?”

“What for?” Tessa asked. 

Kit smiled and stood. “Trust me?”

Jem and Tessa exchanged a glance. “It’s in my purse,” Tessa said. “But Kit, no drugs, no Shadow Market, and nothing that is alive.”

“What if I want a puppy?”

Jem sat up straighter, and Tessa laughed. “Then you take Jem with you, and the two of you can pick out a dog.”

“Can we actually have a dog?” Jem asked. 

Tessa laughed at her husband. “One,” she said. “One dog. I am not doing our newborn and two puppies.”

Jem stood and kissed her on the cheek. “Should we go get a puppy, then?” Jem asked Kit. 

Kit grinned. “That wasn’t my plan, but sure.” 

“By the angel, the two of you,” Tessa said. “Go do whatever you need to do and bring food back with you.”

Kit smiled at her. “Thanks, Mom!”

* * *

 

Shopping with Jem was a hazard. They were in London for the weekend and planning to head back to Devon in the afternoon. They had driven because Tessa hadn’t wanted to make a Portal and Jem loved to drive. Kit directed him to the closest store nearby. 

As they got out of the car, Kit started to explain. “I am going to buy a laptop,” he said as they walked into the store. “Shadowhunters need some database to store files that everyone can access without spending  _ centuries _ flipping through papers.”

“And you are going to design it?” Jem said. “Do you know how to create computer things?”

Kit gave him a sideways glance. “Programs. Computer programs. I know you are old, but you need to know that. I am going to learn to program because I do not feel like sifting through more papers. It’s no longer outdated. It is antiquated.”

Jem looked at him. “Do you need a class for that?”

Kit shook his head. “No. By the angel, no. Do not call it school or I will not do it.”

“Alright,” Jem said. “What do you need for that?”

“A good laptop, an internet connection, and YouTube.”

Jem frowned at him. “YouTube?” 

“Oh my god!” Kit said. “We’re buying you a laptop too. You need an update. Tessa has a laptop doesn’t she, or do we need to buy her one, too?”

“She has one for work,” Jem said.

Kit looked at him. “Work?”

“She’s an editor. She gets paid to read.”

“Of course, she does.” Kit said. They had reached the laptops, and Kit lead Jem over to one of the workers wearing an obscenely bright green polo shirt. “Hi. My dad and I are looking for two laptops that we can use for programming. Where should we look?”

The employee lead them over to a section, and Kit dismissed him saying they could do the rest.

“Okay,” he told Jem. “We’re getting two of these.”

Jem nodded and helped Kit grab the boxes from under the display. They checked out and put them in the trunk of the car. 

“Now a puppy,” Jem said. “Where do we get a puppy?”

Kit got on his phone and googled briefly while Jem started the car. “Look at this one,” Kit said and showed Jem a picture. 

“By the angel,” Jem said. “That one. Let’s get that one.”

Kit called the number listed and made an appointment for that afternoon. “We can pick him up on our way back to Devon,” he said. 

Jem looked up at Kit. “That puppy will grow to be very very large.” He showed Kit the picture he had looked up. “Not a word to Tessa about how big he will be until we have him.”

“Why not?” Kit said. 

Jem gave him a smile as he put the car in reverse. “Because she will say no, and I am attached.”

Kit laughed.

* * *

 

“Where are we going?” Tessa asked from the backseat of the car. She was sitting next to William, who was fussy for being in the car for too long. 

“It’s a surprise,” Jem said. 

Tessa frowned. “I don’t trust you two with surprises.”

“You’ll like this one,” Kit said. “Swear by the angel.”

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him as Jem pulled off the road to a small quaint farm. As they pulled into the driveway, the woman Kit had talked to on the phone was waiting for them by the door, holding the puppy in her hands. 

Jem and Kit went up to meet her while Tessa got William out of the car. “Tess,” Jem called, holding the puppy. “He’s so cute.”

Tessa shook her head at him and the lady smiled at her. “The pair of you,” Tessa said. “He’s a Newfoundland, isn’t he? He’s going to be huge!”

“But we can keep him, right?” Jem said. “We have plenty of land and a big enough house. And he’s so soft. You should hold him. You won’t say no if you hold him.”

“Please, Mom,” Kit said. 

Tessa laughed. “Yes, we can keep him, but you two are in charge of training him.”

“Yes!” Kit said and hugged Tessa. Jem grinned and kissed her cheek. 

They got the new puppy settled in the car and drove the remaining hour back to Devon. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This started off writing Kit learning to program an "Internet" for Shadowhunters and ended with a puppy instead. I will get back to the internet later, but I got distracted by Jem wanting a puppy. I feel like the fact that Jem loves animals is often forgotten about. Here's the puppy I was thinking of https://i.pinimg.com/originals/5b/35/8d/5b358d69cab56f00bd4f6629fae60e7a.jpg

**Author's Note:**

> There's another chapter I have planned for New Year's. 
> 
> I wasn't sure how the timeline worked out for the Jem/Tessa due date, but I think Will was a holiday baby and I like the idea of the Jessa baby having a birthday around Will's. 
> 
> Let me know what you think of it! :)


End file.
